San Dieguito senior king of the hill this week

EL CAJON  Senior Dominic Anguiano made his season pitching debut in this week’s Premier Division of the 63rd annual Lions Baseball Tournament.

The 6-foot-1 left-hander made the most of the opportunity, posting two victories in helping San Dieguito Academy claim the division championship.

Anguiano was named the MVP after the Mustangs edged Valhalla 2-1 in Thursday’s final at Grossmont College. Earlier in the week he notched a victory against Las Vegas Silverado.

“He was much better in this game than he was against Silverado,” said coach Jack McDowell, whose San Dieguito team has won 13 of 14 games.

Anguiano limited Valhalla (8-5) to three singles. He walked three and struck out three in a complete-game effort, retiring the final 11 batters he faced.

“I stayed mostly with my curveball and knuckleball,” said Anguiano, who escaped bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings thanks greatly to his teammates’ defense.

The Norsemen loaded the bases with nobody out in the second. Dominic Donato hit a line shot that appeared headed to right-center field but was cut off by a leaping one-handed catch by second baseman Nate Glass. Anguiano then got a strikeout and a popup to end the threat.

Trailing 2-0 in the third inning, Valhalla capitalized on a brief wild spell by Anguiano, who loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter. Connor Hopkins then ripped a single to right field, scoring Ramsey Romano from third. But right fielder Parker Hayes fielded the ball on one hop and threw a strike to catcher Joe Stefanki to cut down Jeff Houghtby attempting to score from second.

“He came in head first and I dropped a knee on him and applied the tag,” Stefanki said. “Parker’s throw was right on the money.”